A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The Saudi-Houthi conflict in Yemen has been escalating, showing signs of tuning into a ground war at both the northern and southern extremes of the country. In the south, where troops loyal to the former Yemeni government are fighting to keep the Houthis out of Aden, there were reports last week of some Saudi ground forces, though perhaps only special forces, and that Sudan and Senegal had agreed to send ground forces. These could substitute for the troops Pakistan refused to provide, but like the Pakistanis could be a two-edged sword, seen by many anti-Houthi Yemenis as foreign mercenaries.

Meanwhile, on the northern frontier, border clashes have increased, and now the Houthis have reportedly fired mortars into civilian areas of the border town of Najran. Najran is a substantial town and provincial capital, and while the Saudis have confirmed some of their border guards have been killed, there are also reports of civilian casualties.

Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Egyptian Army learned some harsh lessons about getting involved in a ground war in a Yemeni civil war, but the Saudi/Gulf intervention is threatening to enter a ground war phase,

"Michael Collins Dunn is the editor of The Middle East Journal. He also blogs. His latest posting summarizes a lot of material on the Iranian election and offers some sensible interpretation. If you are really interested in the Middle East, you should check him out regularly."— Gary Sick, Gary's Choices

"Since we’re not covering the Tunisian elections particularly well, and neither does Tunisian media, I’ll just point you over here. It’s a great post by MEI editor Michael Collins Dunn, who . . . clearly knows the country pretty well."— alle, Maghreb Politics Review

"I’ve followed Michael Collins Dunn over at the Middle East Institute’s blog since its beginning in January this year. Overall, it is one of the best blogs on Middle Eastern affairs. It is a selection of educated and manifestly knowledgeable ruminations of various aspects of Middle Eastern politics and international relations in the broadest sense."— davidroberts at The Gulf Blog

"Michael Collins Dunn, editor of the prestigious Middle East Journal, wrote an interesting 'Backgrounder' on the Berriane violence at his Middle East Institute Editor’s Blog. It is a strong piece, but imperfect (as all things are) . . ."— kal, The Moor Next DoorThis great video of Nasser posted on Michael Collins Dunn’s blog (which is one of my favorites incidentally) ...— Qifa Nabki